Archive for July, 2008

In this time of increasing competition for college admission, anxiety about getting into college is off the chart for many students and parents.

My goals here are to provide accurate, timely information and to reduce stress levels so that students can take a healthy approach to what should be an exciting time of self-discovery.

While it’s true that the most selective schools in the country are very tough to get into, the good news is there are still many excellent schools that admit students who haven’t competed in the Olympics or mapped the human genome. In fact, there are more excellent schools now because all of the students who can no longer get into the Ivies, Stanford, Duke, and Northwestern have gone to other colleges and raised the quality at those schools. Many colleges admit the majority of their applicants. There is a college (actually more than one college) for everyone.

If you think that an Ivy League degree is the only path to success, you might want to know that according to an article in USA Today, a study found that the percentage of CEOs at Fortune 500 companies who were educated at Ivy League schools declined from 16 percent in 1998 to 11 percent in 2004.

Instead of approaching this process from a place of fear, I encourage students to focus on what kind of college environment would be best for them. That means looking at learning style, academic and career goals, personal values and interests, and other factors.

Finding and getting into a college where you’ll be successful and happy should be the goal. That’s how I work with my students. Whether we’re looking at Stanford or Sonoma State, the focus is on making sure each student will have the kind of educational experience that will prepare him or her to take on the world. And to have some fun along the way.

I’ve written more than 100 articles, and you can read many of them on this site. More are available at www.theacorn.com. Search the archives for Audrey Kahane.